Trouble was, they also wanted the Nets' spot in the first round of the draft, 11th overall. That made the Nets balk.

According to Eastern Conference insiders, the Nets countered with a request for the draft rights to Brazilian big man Tiago Splitter, the Spurs' top pick in the 2007 draft and a star in the Spanish League.

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Convinced they would have a fighting chance to extract Splitter from Spain this summer, the Spurs turned their focus to Jefferson.

Jefferson would be welcomed to San Antonio a couple of days after the deal for Carter fell apart. Expectations were raised to ridiculous levels from the get-go, and a season of frustration would follow, both for Jefferson and the team.

Even as Jefferson poured in 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in a playoff loss in Phoenix, high-ranking members of the organization were overheard cursing the cost-per-contribution made by a player who was paid $14.2 million.

Watching Carter choke on the two most important free throws of the Magic's playoff run — critical misses with 31.9 seconds left in a tight Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals — then seeing his feckless performance in Game 4, you wonder if high-ranking Magic executives turned the air blue cursing him and the $16.1 million they paid him this season.

The Spurs should be grateful the Nets asked for Splitter's rights. Jefferson will cost Peter Holt et al. $15 million next season, when he will be an athletic 29-year-old in the final year of his deal.

Meanwhile, the Magic are on the hook for another $35.8 million for Carter, through 2011-12, when he will be 35.

Jefferson wasn't brought to San Antonio to be one of the Spurs' top scorers. Rather, he was to augment the team's firepower. It took four full months before he had any feel for what to do — and not do — in an offense predicated on pick and roll.

He never became the post-up threat Gregg Popovich envisioned he would be, but at least he occupied a defender. That is more than anyone could say about Bowen in his final season.

Jefferson's bloated, expiring contract also makes him a valuable commodity this summer and on through next February.

Carter has another chance tonight to prove he was worth the Magic's giving up Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee and Tony Battie. Maybe he will return to being “Vinsanity,” the nearly unstoppable scorer who once averaged 27.6 points per game.

More likely, he will prove why the Spurs were lucky he didn't end up wearing silver and black.